


Now You Know

by alltimesamx



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, based off the icon for hire song, this will be fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 20:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4276659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltimesamx/pseuds/alltimesamx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vampires is the world's biggest band--featuring Carmilla Karnstein, Will Luce, J.P. Armitage, Cam Eisen, and Aiden James. Carmilla is fed up with the sexist comments about having a girl in the band--so she's determined to prove the world wrong.<br/>(I suggest listening or looking up the lyrics to Now You Know by Icon For Hire, this story is based off that song)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Seem like everywhere I go, everybody wanna know  
What’s it like to be a girl, in the music world

The scene is so sexist, believe me I get it, we’d probably sell more records if I flaunted my ass and chest but forget it  
I work like one of the boys, and I’m as true as they get  
but I’m a lady through and through, like give me some[CREDIT](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#38539160)  
I knew I’d regret it if I tried to blend in and pretend   
Be something other than I am  
like have you noticed I’m a woman  
Didn’t come to downplay it, or to play it up either  
and I’m not trying pick a fight or be nobody's leader  
But it feels like everybody’s just a little too interested  
In the fact that females can indeed make music  
Our interviews, our[BIOS](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#71920813), - they all make it a point  
"Female Fronted Band, from Decatur, Illinois"  
And just once, I’d like to see some other band’s[RESUME](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#42201213) go out of their way to say they’re fronted by a male, ok?  
And while we’re on it, let me say   
Women don’t all sound the same  
Who gave us the idea that "Female Fronted” is a genre anyway?

Seem like everywhere I go, everybody wanna know  
What’s it like to be a girl, in the music world  
Wanna make it disappear, tell 'em what they wanna hear,   
If truth ain't pretty will you all stay with me  
Will you love me, love me ugly

And I know it’s not fair, and I can’t complain,  
Cuz with girl in our band, people don’t look away  
But you know what, it feels like they look just a little too long   
stare me up and down, forget to listen to the song  
I take the stage and before I even open my mouth, the audience assumes that they got us all figured out  
"Oh your band’s got a chick, must be some kinda trick,  
there’s no way she got this far without sucking somebody's"  
Did you really think that’s how it works, I’m not fucking eye candy  
I’m here to do my job, I’ll be the last man standing  
Boys in crowd asking, for me to[FLASH](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#80505274) them, well here you go, news flash:  
You’re ignorant and that’s that  
I[BET](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#76137962) you’d never say that to your little sister  
The media’s got you all jacked up, little mister   
Cuz girls in my position can perpetuate the cycle  
walking a tightrope, don’t know which way to go  
Hypersexualize, or downplay your femininity   
Dress like the dudes, or pray to God that you’re pretty   
Are you kidding me? And I don’t even know who’s to blame  
Beauty sells, I buy it too, I’m trying to sell it back it you.

Seem like everywhere I go, everybody wanna know  
What’s it like to be a girl, in the music world  
Wanna make it disappear, tell 'em what they wanna hear,   
If truth ain't pretty will you all stay with me  
Will you love me, love me ugly

So tell me, what’s a woman to do-no, scratch that  
Tell me what’s a human being to with the fact that  
What gets us ahead just holds us back more   
Is a level playing field too much to ask for?  
And I know that by saying it, I'm bringing attention  
To an issue that might be better left unmentioned -  
but someone's gotta say it, gotta call out the scene  
the scene is obscene, my sanity's split at the seams  
So to all of ya’ll making this just about ass and tits  
here to set the record straight, it don’t gotta be this way  
We can change the game, rearrange the way to fame  
And make a bigger deal about the talent than the face  
See I got little girls watching me, wanting to be like me,   
And I wanna show them that they don’t gotta be like me  
They can do their own thing, they can rewrite the rules  
They can get respect without acting like fools  
So lets not make it harder than it has to be  
I’ll keep[MAKING MUSIC](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/iconforhire/nowyouknow.html#54382531), you stop asking me  
What’s it like to be a girl in the entertainment world,  
Cuz now you know

-Icon For Hire


	2. Seems Like Everywhere I Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band's background is told (Idk how else to put it oops)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few chapters will be the band's background about their music, but Laura and everyone else will be in the story soon!)  
> Chapter title is from Now You Know by Icon For Hire

"So, Carmilla, can you tell me about your new single Cynics & Critics?"

Carmilla sighed as she played with the ring on her finger. She was really tired, and all she wanted to do was go back to the bus and cuddle with Ell. But no, the band had another interview--and she knew sexist questions were coming. "Yeah, I wrote it." she said.

"Were you worried about what people would think?"

"No." Carmilla replied.

"You guys are often compared to the female version of Werewolves, the popular band from New York. What's your opinion on that? Did this song come from--"

"No, this song has nothing to do with them. Honestly, you call yourself an interviewer?"  
"Carmilla." Will warned her.

"No, I'm gonna speak my mind. The song has nothing to do with those idiots from New York. And secondly, female is an offensive term--I'm a girl, yes, but that has nothing to do with our band."

"Carm--"

And Carmilla walked out.

_______________________

The band was currently in the middle of a huge argument. Their manager, Phil, was trying to calm everyone, but it wasn't working.

"Carmilla, can't you just keep your mouth shut during interviews? That guy was--"

"He was an idiot, Will! All interviewers care about is the fact that there's a girl in the band. That's all! Stop acting like that's not the case."

"To be fair, Will, the last five interviews have been nothing but sexist questions." J.P. added.

"Thank you!" Carmilla said, grabbing a beer from the mini fridge of their tour bus. "We started this band so we could make music and share our thoughts with the world, not to be sexualized and interviews honestly don't even care about our music anymore. I really thought the new single would change that."

"This world is cruel towards female--" Carmilla glared at Phil. "Er, bands with girls in them. You know that."

"It's ridiculous." Carmilla said.

"We'll discuss it after the show. But right now, we have to go to sound check."  
Carmilla might be irritated at her job, but she loved performing. The fans were great. And she loved the rush.

They went into the small venue, and Betty and Natalie were setting up the merch tent. Carmilla set down her beer and picked up her bass and tuned it. Five years ago, Carmilla had been chilling in her basement playing bass, and Will was playing his drums. Somehow, they started playing something that sounded like it could belong together. So Will called J.P., the neighbor that was always playing his guitar that the two never spoke to--and they played for hours. He was easily able to pick up the tune and played a guitar riff along with it. Carmilla wrote down some lyrics, and they wrote their first song, which was Misery Business. For a while, it was just the three of them, playing music in Carmilla and Will's basement. Their Mother worked late, so she was never home whenever they played their music. But they realized something was missing, and that's when they called Cam, Carmilla's half-brother. They knew he played guitar, but they only spoke to him on holidays or whenever he and Will talked.

Carmilla's Mother had married Samuel Karnstein, and they had Carmilla. And they divorced, and that's when Carmilla's Mother married Will's father, Gabe Luce, and they had Will, and after that marriage didn't work, she married James Eisen, and they had Cam. Eventually, they were divorced, and Cam lived with James.

When Cam came over, he took a while before he was able to play with them. He thought it over, and played his guitar in a corner by himself after hearing them play. Finally, they played, and Carmilla wrote down some more lyrics--and that's when they wrote Ignorance.

They played for about three months in Carmilla and Will's basement, and eventually they realized they wanted to play everywhere--they wanted to make music and share it with the world. They started playing clubs, like Club Silas, which was the club for teenagers in their town. Will on drums, Carmilla on bass, J.P. on guitar, and Cam on guitar as well. Carmilla sang, with J.P. and Cam on backing vocals. For a while, Misery Business and Ignorance were the two songs they played, along with some covers, and then they started writing some more music.

They put up flyers about their band all over town and eventually they became well known. They released an EP, called Love Like This. The EP had five tracks on it, which was Misery Business, Ignorance, Sugar, We're Going Down, Love Like This, and Both Sides of the Story, which Cam sang on, as well.

As they continued playing Club Silas and writing music, they realized they wanted to play keys, too. Carmilla knew that she couldn't play keys live and bass at the same time, so they tried to find a keys player. Will's friend, Aiden, from high school, played keys, and they asked him to play keys. Originally, he wasn't an official member of the band. But he played all of their shows, and recorded keys for their album, so they asked him to join the band.

Their album, Love Like War, was released six months after their EP, with ten tracks, which were: Misery Business, Ignorance, A Love Like War (with Cam singing as well), The Best Thing (That Never Happened) (with Cam singing as well), Get Well, Terrible Things, Chelsea, Autumn, I Was A Fool, and American Idiot.

The town was now familiar with the band--they were getting popular.

And then Carmilla met Ell.

Over the next year, Carmilla became distracted with Ell, and the band almost broke up because of it. Carmilla stopped writing their music, so that's when Aiden started writing. That next summer, their EP, Pine Tree State, was written by Aiden and Cam, with three tracks: Pine Tree State, Cali Girls (with Carmilla and Aiden singing), and I Like That (with Cam, Aiden, and J.P. singing).

Carmilla didn't like the new music--and that's when the band had their first argument. Aiden told Carmilla that she wasn't writing, so he wrote. Carmilla agreed to record them, but they barely played them live after a few months after the EP was released.

Within the next three years, they released another album, which was Wasting Away, with ten tracks: Wasting Away, My Heart Radio (with Cam's vocals in the background), Manners (with Cam singing as well), Weightless, How You Love Me Now, The Only Exception, 18 (with Cam and Aiden singing as well), The Grey, Candles, and The Memory.

Here they were, about to put out their third album--and they had become the world's biggest band. This was one of the last of the small venues they were playing, because the next tour, they'd be playing huge arenas, and maybe even Madison Square Garden. Carmilla dreamed of playing MSG for so many years.

Betty and Natalie had been working on merch for years now, ever since their first tour. Cam's little brother (Carmilla's step-brother--his dad was Cam's dad, and his mom was another woman) designed the merch. The thing is, though, he was about fifteen. He was adorable, and Carmilla never called anyone adorable.

"Hey!" Betty smiled as the band set up. "How was the interview?"  
"Don't ask." Will said, sitting at his drum set and playing to warm up.

Betty looked at Carmilla, confused, and Carmilla just shook her head.

Michael (Cam's little brother), walked in, all smiles. He had really wanted to be in the band, too, and he was awesome at guitar. He was better than anyone Carmilla had ever heard. He could play anything and everything at any speed and any genre. Even if he just heard the song, he could easily play it. Secretly, Carmilla had thought he was better than both Cam and J.P., but she had never told them that.

"Hey," he said, plopping down on the stage next to Carmilla.

"Hey, kid." she said, playing a tune on her bass mindlessly.

"I was playing around on guitar the other day, and I was thinking I could play it for you guys. You know, if you want to use it."

A few months ago, Michael had been playing Cam's guitar, and the band was talking, but they stopped and listened. They really liked the riff he was playing, so they asked what it was. And he told them he just made it up. And that's where the guitar riff for Cynics & Critics was born. "Can I hear it?" Carmilla asked.

He nodded and grabbed Cam's guitar. Cam didn't notice, because he was talking to Will and had his back to them. Michael sat back down and started playing. Carmilla listened, and started playing bass along with him.

Aiden's keyboard could make cool sound effects, and as they were playing, they heard him adding in a few things on his keyboard. Carmilla smiled. She loved when this happened--when they could make music without even trying.

Will and J.P. looked up, and looked at each other, then started playing along.

That's how Now You Know was born.

The song that would inspire women everywhere that women can do anything they wanted. They could be who they wanted.

And Carmilla got to work, writing the lyrics.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs that are mentioned (they are other bands songs, but in this story they're Carmilla's bands' songs):  
> (also, I'll put who in the story wrote them; this is fiction, so let's just pretend these bands didn't write these songs :P)
> 
> Cynics and Critics by Icon For Hire (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Michael Eisen)  
> Misery Business by Paramore (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Ignorance by Paramore (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Sugar, We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy (written by Carmilla Karnstein and J.P. Armitage)  
> Love Like This by The Summer Set (written by Cam Eisen and J.P. Armitage)  
> Both Sides of the Story by We Are The In Crowd (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Cam Eisen)  
> A Love Like War by All Time Low (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Cam Eisen)  
> The Best Thing (That Never Happened) by We Are The In Crowd (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Cam Eisen)  
> Get Well by Icon For Hire (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Terrible Things by Icon For Hire (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Chelsea by The Summer Set (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Autumn by Sparks The Rescue (written by Carmilla Karnstein, Cam Eisen, and J.P. Armitage)  
> I Was A Fool by Tegan and Sara (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Will Luce)  
> American Idiot by Green Day (written by Carmilla Karnstein, Cam Eisen, and J.P. Armitage)  
> Pine Tree State by Sparks The Rescue (written by Aiden James and Cam Eisen)  
> Cali Girls by R5 (written by Aiden James and Cam Eisen)  
> I Like That by Before You Exit (written by Cam Eisen and Aiden James)  
> Wasting Away by Tonight Alive (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> My Heart Radio by Sparks The Rescue (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Cam Eisen)  
> Manners by We Are The In Crowd (written by Carmilla Karnstein and Cam Eisen)  
> Weightless by All Time Low (written by Cam Eisen, J.P. Armitage, Carmilla Karnstein, Will Luce, and Aiden James)  
> How You Love Me Now by Hey Monday (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> The Only Exception by Paramore (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> 18 by 5 Seconds of Summer (written by Aiden James, Cam Eisen, and Carmilla Karnstein)  
> The Grey by Icon For Hire (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Candles by Hey Monday (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> The Memory by Mayday Parade (written by Carmilla Karnstein)  
> Now You Know by Icon For Hire (written by Carmila Karnstein and Michael Eisen)


	3. Inspiration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more of the band's backstory.

The band's music had changed a lot throughout the years, but they were mostly pop-punk. Their songs were born in different situations. For example, J.P. wrote poetry, and the verses of Sugar, We're Going Down, were something he had written as a poem.

And songs like Both Sides of the Story, Manners, and The Best Thing (That Never Happened), that had Cam and Carmilla singing, the parts they sang were written on how they'd feel during those situations since it was like telling a story between a girl and a guy.

And songs like Terrible Things, The Memory, Candles, The Grey, and I Was A Fool, were written by Carmilla in the late hours of the night when she was being broody.

Then you had songs like 18, which had both Carmilla, Cam, and Aiden's vocals). Each of them wrote the part they sang on.

 _(This is code for what Aiden sings,_ this is code for what Cam sings, and  **this is code for what Carmilla sings)**

**I wish that I was 18, do all the things you see in a magazine**

**I'm not saying I wanna be Charlie Sheen**

 

She's just a little bit older but I want to get to know her

She says it's already over

 

So tell me what else can I do?  
I bought my fake I.D. for you

 

_ She told me to meet her there _

_ I can't afford the bus fare _

_ I'm not old enough for her _

**_ I'm just waiting till I'm 18 _ **

 

I think she wants to get with me, but she's got a job in the city

Says that she's always too busy

 

_She's got a naughty tattoo in a place that I wanna get to_

_But my mom still drives me to school_

 

So tell me what else can I do?

** I bought my fake I.D. for you **

 

_ She told me to meet her there _

_ I can't afford the bus fare _

_ I'm not old enough for her _

**_ I'm just waiting till I'm 18 _ **

**_ You've got me waiting in a queue _ **

**_ For a bar I can't get into _ **

**_ I'm not old enough for you _ **

**_ I'm just waiting till I'm 18 _ **

 

In my bedroom thinking of her

Pictures in my private folder

_I know one day_ that I will hold her

Make my move when I get older

_ Make my move when I get older _

 

_ She told me to meet her there _

_ I can't afford the bus fare _

_ I'm not old enough for her _

_ I'm just waiting till I'm 18 _

_ You've got me waiting in a queue _

_ **For a bar I can't get into**   
_

_ **I'm not old enough for you** _

_ **I'm just waiting till I'm 18** _

**I'm so sick of waiting till I'm 18**

 

When writing 18, Aiden was crushing on a girl older than him, so that's where the inspiration came from. Cam had an experience like that as well, so each of them wrote the parts they sang.

When Carmilla wasn't writing any music, and Cam and Aiden wrote their music--they added a little of a pop rock vibe to it. Cali Girls and I Like That were probably the most pop songs the band has--they experienced with all types of genres. Like Cynics & Critics, and Now You Know were almost like rap or spoken word.

The inspiration behind their music varied. Carmilla wrote Misery Business about a guy that she knew in high school, and she had stolen him from the girl he was dating at the time. She was about 17 when she wrote that. She wrote Ignorance about people that treated her like they didn't really know her.

The Only Exception was written about Ell. Carmilla never believed in love until Ell came along. She had written many songs about Ell, but that was one of the few that the band actually used. I Was A Fool was also written about Ell.

She wrote Chelsea about a girl she knew in high school that she had a crush on--and they dated briefly before the band got famous outside of Silas, their town.

Their music was inspired by so many different situations.

Maybe that's why Vampires was the world's biggest band.

 

 


	4. I Think About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band goes camping to write new music; Carmilla meets Laura.

For a while, Vampires had trouble with the label. The label had let them do their own thing, until they got popular. Now, they wanted them to add a more pop-rock sound to their music. Songs like Cali Girls and I Like That were what they had in mind. And at first, the band agreed, because they thought it'd only be for a little while.

What they weren't used to were people writing their music for them--which they didn't let them do. So the label told them what type of music to write.

Originally, their third album was supposed to be pop-rock, with Talking Body as their first single.

The album was almost done, when Carmilla decided to throw away all of their hard work and write a new album.

"There was nothing wrong with that album." Will groaned as they walked out of their meeting.

"Yeah, Talking Body has been on the radio for months now." Cam added as they all got into Carmilla's car.

"True, but if we're gonna have music on the radio, I'd rather it be the music we want to actually play." she said to them. "So we're going to take a camping trip and write a new set of songs."

"You? Camping?" J.P. asks.

Carmilla nodded. "And bring Michael along. He writes good music."

The guys looked at each other, groaning.

Later that day, they had gotten to the campsite, where a very tall redhead was waiting for them. "Hello, I'm Danny Lawrence and I'll be your camp guide this weekend." she smiled brightly.

"Wait, aren't you Dan Lawrence's sister?" Will asks as they all get out of the car.

She nods. "Yes, my brother is in a famous band, now can we--"  
"We know who he is because we get compared to his band all the time." Carmilla tells her. She looks back and forth between them.

"Wait, you're Vampires?"

"Yep." Carmilla replied. The girl looked confused, but shrugged and led them to the area with all of the tents. Carmilla had originally asked that their tent be away from anyone else's, but unfortunately the camp site wouldn't let them.

They'd brought along some acoustic guitars, and Will brought one of his bongo drums. Aiden had brought a portable keyboard.

Once they all got situated, Carmilla started looking around for inspiration. Aiden was writing away in his notepad, and Will and J.P. were talking. Michael and Cam had gone looking for Danny to ask if there was "wifi" in the woods. Idiots, Carmilla thought.

Carmilla stood up and started walking around, not paying attention to where she was going, when she bumped into someone and fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" the tiny human said. Carmilla smirked as she looked at the flustered girl. "I was trying to fix the tent and it didn't work and--"

"Calm down, cupcake." Carmilla laughed. The girl's honey brown eyes softened. She didn't seem to recognize Carmilla, which was refreshing. "It's fine."

"Okay. I'm Laura." the girl smiled, holding out her hand. Carmilla shook it roughly, before walking away. "Where are you going?" Laura asks.

"I'd love to stay and talk, cutie, but I have work to do."  
"What kind of work?" Laura replied, following Carmilla. Carmilla stopped just as she caught up with her.

"Why do you care?"  
"Sorry. I'm a journalist."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow. Phil did say something about doing an interview with a woman (rather than a man who would ask sexist questions) soon....

"Why are you staring?"  
Carmilla laughed. "You like to ask questions, cutie."

Laura blushed. "Yeah, I do."

"Well, if you must know, I'm in a band and we're writing our new album here."

"Oh, cool! Would I have heard your stuff before?"  
"If you listen to the radio everyday, then yeah."

"Hm...you don't look familiar."

Well that's insulting, Carmilla thought.

"Name one of your songs."  
Carmilla sighed. "Okay. Our most played one is Talking Body."

The girl's eyes widened. "I know that song!"

"Congratulations." Carmilla said sarcastically. "Why're you blushing?"  
  
"No reason." Laura smiled.

"Hey, L!" another redhead called, walking up to them. What's with all the redheads? "Wait, you're Carmilla!"

"Yes, and I'd appreciate if the entire park didn't know that."

"Sorry." the redhead replied. "Laura here loves your music, she blushes every time she listens to Talking Body. I think she said something about sleeping with--"  
"Okay, Lafontaine that's enough!" Laura gave her friend a glare. "This is Lafontaine."

"They/them pronouns." LaF told Carmilla. Carmilla nodded.

"Well, we'll stop bothering you." Laura said. "But...if you get bored, we'll be over there." she said, pointing to their tent.

"I'll remember that." Carmilla smiled a very small smile, but still noticeable.

____________________________

"I can't believe you actually made her smile." Lafontaine said as they followed Laura back to the tent. "She only smirks in photos."

"For all we know, she could smile on a daily basis." Laura replied.

"Okay, crushes on rockstars."

____________________________

The band still hadn't come up with anything, and the sun was setting. Carmilla had a few songs that she had written beforehand, but she wanted to start fresh. She was trying to get some inspiration when she glanced over towards Laura's tent and saw Laura, LaFontaine, and someone she didn't recognize sitting around a campfire, laughing. Carmilla found herself smiling again. She wasn't sure why--it's not like she was single or anything. But before they had left, Ell and Carmilla had gotten into an argument over it. Ell didn't understand what had to be done for the band's music. Carmilla's music was more important to her than anything--her band's music, rather.

That's the thing, it'd never been just Carmilla, so Carmilla couldn't really see a career without her band. Many interviewers asked her this thousands of times, if she'd ever go solo. She always told them that right now her main focus was the band.

She looked over at her bandmates. Will was asleep, and J.P. was reading one of his comic books. Aiden was playing around on his keyboard, and Cam was next to him, listening. He started playing along with his guitar, and the tune was, well, catchy. Carmilla started snapping her fingers and she grabbed her notebook to write down some lyrics.

_Looking for the one tonight, but I can't see you_

_Cause I'm blinded by all the lights_

_And I can never get it right, I need a breakthrough_

_Why are you so hard to find?_

_I've been searching every city, never giving up_

_Looking for a signal_

_Baby turn it up tonight_

 

_Come on get loud, loud, let it out_

_Shout it out from the rooftops, come on get loud, loud, till they shut us down_

_Come on get loud, loud, let it out_

_Show me everything that you've got_

_Come on get loud, loud, I need you now_

_Baby let me hear it loud_

They continued playing it over and over and Carmilla kept writing down more and more lyrics, and they were true to them--they were really singing it loudly together. Carmilla added things here and there, and so did Cam, and the more they sang, the louder they got. Eventually, Danny walked up with a very mad look on her face.

"Can you guys please be quiet? Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Well, if you had let us have a space to ourselves, that wouldn't be a problem."  
"It was too last minute, now--"  
"Shut it, we'll stop." Carmilla told her. But as soon as she walked away, they started playing, just not as loudly.

And that's how Loud was born.

_______________________

Over that weekend, the band wrote at least six songs--Loud, Shut Up and Dance, Shake Me Down, Chains (which, really wasn't exactly what the band was going for, but they liked the song either way), Speed Dial, and Shout It. During the day, everyone had been out hiking, except for them--and luckily they didn't need wifi to record, so they used Cam's computer to record demos for each song.

The night before they were supposed to go, Carmilla could see that Lafontaine was trying to talk to Laura. But Laura wasn't listening. She was looking over at Carmilla.

Eventually, she walked up and sat on the log Carmilla was sitting on. "Can I help you, cutie?" Carmilla asked.

"I just....I really like the new music you guys are playing."

Carmilla smiled. "Thanks, cupcake." she grabbed one of the acoustic guitars laying around. "Want an up-close seat?"  
"I don't want to intrude--"

"Relax, cutie. You're fine. I want to play a song for you."

"Won't your girlfriend get jealous?" Laura giggled.

Carmilla shrugged. "She's mad at me right now, so no."

Carmilla started playing around till she found a tune she really liked. It kinda reminded her of Laura. Laura was blushing and smiling before Carmilla even began singing. And sure, Carmilla was used to this--all of the band's fans seemed to have a crush on her. But for some reason with Laura, it felt different. It didn't feel like she was another fan. It felt like she saw right through Carmila, which made her nervous and she messed up what she was playing. "Are you flustered?" Laura asked. Carmilla looked at her.

"You're one to talk." she said. She started playing again, and then she started signing. "I think about you, every morning when I open my eyes. I think about you, every evening when I turn out the lights. I think about you, every moment every day of my life, I think about you, all the time, it's true, I think about you--you, you, you, you."

Laura was blushing again, and Carmilla was smiling too, and the moment was interrupted by Will, who was climbing out of his tent.

"Hey, kitty." he says. "Who's this?"  
"I'm Laura." Laura said, holding out her hand. Will was always more polite than Carmilla, so he shook it nicely.

"I was playing a song for the cupcake." Carmilla said as Will sat on the ground in front of the log they were sitting on.

"That's new. You didn't write that with Cam or Aiden?"  
"Nope." Carmilla replied. "Well, cupcake, since you said you were a fan, you want a private concert?"

"I couldn't--"  
"Relax, cutie. All of us are here. We need to rehearse for the tour, anyway. You'll get to hear new stuff. I don't even know if half of this stuff is gonna be released ever."

Laura blushed. "Can my friends join?"  
"Sure, why not?"

Laura ran off to get her friends, and Will was smiling at Carmilla.

"What?" she asked him.

"Carmilla, you're so whipped."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned in this chapter:  
> Loud by R5  
> Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon  
> Shake Me Down by Cage The Elephant  
> Speed Dial by Mitchell Musso  
> Shout It by Mitchell Musso  
> I Think About You by Ross Lynch


End file.
